How I Overcame Lazy This Week: I Got a Christmas Bonus!



The original zip line that
started it all!



My Christmas Eve eve started off with my Random Act of Fitness #38:  doing the zip swing at the park.  We're at my parents' here in Washington for Christmas and it is stinkin' cold!  Not surprisingly, no one else was nutty enough to be there at the playground, which was nice because no line for the zip swing this time!  After run-pushing the girls several times, K and I took our turns as well, which we can't do on our mini version back home.  It was fun!



My turn!



Next, I started my deliberate act of fitness while K and girls stayed to throw rocks in the Columbia river.  I headed off to run along the river and jog my way home.



Sorry about the funny face.
I couldn't really feel it.



Man, winter running is NOT for wimps!  It was about 22 degrees and mostly overcast.  It was around noon and there was still frost on the ground.  Starting out I was really wishing I'd brought my ski mask... and this was the first time I did not appreciate the "cooling" feature on my running shoes.  However, by about mile 3 I was starting to feel my extremities again.



So relieved my feet didn't overheat. 
That's the frosty ground!



Now here's where Random Act of Fitness #39 comes in.  I had intended to run a fairly direct route to my parents' house, but I ended up kinda getting lost!  This little mishap roughly doubled my planned mileage, thus granting me an unplanned opportunity to overcome Lazy since I was, more or less, running randomly through unfamiliar neighborhoods trying to work my way back home.

By the time I encountered a path that would correctly lead me home, I'd warmed up significantly and was rather enjoying myself.  I'd gotten to explore unfamiliar parts of town and see some unexpected sights. And heaven knows, I definitely needed the extra calorie expenditure with all of Mom's home cookin' I've been inhaling!  It was kinda like a little Christmas bonus.



Iceburg!  Dead ahead!
I never would've seen this had I
stayed on course.



So I'm tellin' ya... play with your kids every chance you get... never pass up an opportunity to run along a river when you've got one close by (even in the dead of winter!)... and don't be afraid to get a little lost every so often!  It just might result in a bonus that's a little better than the Jelly-Of-The-Month club.